The Bill of Rights guarantees that no American shall be "deprived of
life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." This promise
lies at the heart of our free society and reflects our reverence for
impartial justice and the rule of law. In a few simple words, it
cements the fundamental covenant between our government and the people
it serves.

Our Nation's founders understood that true justice cannot exist
unless it is accessible to all. In this same spirit, Congress
established the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) 25 years ago to secure
equal access to justice under the law for all Americans by making
available high-quality legal assistance in civil matters to citizens who
otherwise would be unable to afford it.

Designed as a private, nonprofit, independent entity, the LSC focuses
its efforts on funding local legal services programs that are rooted in
and accountable to the communities they serve. The dedicated staffs of
these programs, and the many private attorneys who donate their time and
expertise, strive to protect and defend the interests of their clients
and to maintain the highest standards of the legal profession. In
recent years, the LSC has provided grants to legal services programs
serving every county in our Nation, as well as the U.S. territories.
Each year, almost 60 thousand private attorneys participate by
performing pro bono legal services, and almost 2 million people benefit
from LSC-funded efforts.

The extraordinary success of the LSC highlights the importance of the
legal profession's long-standing tradition of community service. It
also reminds us of how much our society has been strengthened by the
conscience and conviction of lawyers standing up for what is right. As
part of my Call to Action to the American Legal Community, I hope to
build on this tradition of service by challenging all attorneys across
our Nation to donate some of their time and apply their skills to help
those among us who cannot afford to pay for the representation they
need.

As we mark the 25th Anniversary of the Legal Services Corporation, I
salute the dedicated members of the Board of Directors, attorneys,
paralegals, support staff, and volunteers associated with the LSC who
have worked with talent, generosity, and determination to uphold
America's fundamental commitment to justice for all.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States
of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution
and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim July 25, 1999, as the
25th Anniversary of the Legal Services Corporation. I urge all
Americans to join me in recognizing the contributions that the Legal
Services Corporation, and the local programs that it supports, have made
in fulfilling the promise of equal justice under the law.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-sixth day
of July, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and
twenty-fourth.